The Progressive Era

• Chiefly middle-class residents of U.S. Cities– Doctors, lawyers, ministers, storekeepers

• Cared for the poor and the less fortunate and insisted on honesty in public life.• Believed that honest government and just laws could improve human condition.• Challenged fixed notions that stood in the way of reform

Attack …

The abuses of monopolies

Rate-fixing practices of railroads

Child labor in factories & mines

Corruption of big-city political machines

Women’s suffrage

Conservation programs

Civil service

Better pay & shorter hours for workers

•Informed the public about the “dirty” realities of party politics

•Told of scandalous conditions in factories and slums

MuckrakersMuckrakers

FACTORY OWNER DETAINED IN FIRE THAT KILLED 55

Morocco, April 28, 2008

Casablanca – Police detained the owner and manager of a Casablanca mattress factory that went up in flames, killing at least 55 people, a police official said Sunday amid accusations of poor safety standards and locked doors that trapped workers.

Rescue workers found one more body yesterday and a sniffer dog was seen uncovering body parts a day after the blaze at the factory.

SOURCE: Tribune-Review

NOW, turn to page 216 in your text Do you see anything there that sounds

familiar?

Famous MuckrakersFamous Muckrakers• Henry Demarest LloydHenry Demarest Lloyd

– Atlantic Monthly:Atlantic Monthly: Attacked practices of Standard Oil Co.

• Samuel Sidney McClureSamuel Sidney McClure

– McClure’s MagazineMcClure’s Magazine: Published shocking exposés of political and economic corruption.

• Jacob RiisJacob Riis

– How the Other Half Lives:How the Other Half Lives: Articles on tenement life.

• Pure Food and Drug Act (1906)- Forbade manufacturer, sale, and transportation of adulterated or mislabeled foods and drugs.– Meat Inspection Act (1906)-

Federal inspectors would visit meatpacking plants to ensure standards of sanitation were met.

Consumer ProtectionConsumer Protection

Political Reforms in Cities and States

The Cornerstone of Progressive ideology was faith in Democracy

• Voter Participation

• Municipal Reform

• State Reform

• Australian/Secret BallotAustralian/Secret Ballot

– Required voters to mark their choices secretly within the privacy of a curtained booth

• Direct PrimariesDirect Primaries

– Robert La Follette introduced method of nominating party candidates by majority vote

• Direct Election of U.S. SenatorsDirect Election of U.S. Senators

– 17th Amendment: Required all U.S. Senators to be elected by popular vote

Voter Participation

Voter Participation (cont.)

• Initiative, Referendum, RecallInitiative, Referendum, Recall

☺Initiative: Voters could compel the legislature to consider a bill

☺Referendum: Allowed citizens to vote on proposed laws printed on their ballots

☺Recall: Enabled voters to remove a corrupt politician by majority vote

Municipal Reform

• Comprehensive Program of Municipal Reform– Mayor Samuel M. “Golden Rule” Jones

introduced it– Included free kindergartens, night schools,

and public playgrounds• Controlling Public Utilities

– Cities came to own/operate gas lines, electric power plants, urban transportation systems

• Commissions and City Managers– Voters elected heads of city departments

State Reform

• “Wisconsin Idea”- Series of Progressive measures; included direct primary law, tax reform, regulation of railroad rates.

• Temperance and prohibition was NOT a priority according to Urban Progressives

• Rural Progressives were determined to abolish liquor– 1915- 2/3 of states persuaded to

prohibit sale of alcohol.

The Campaign for Women’s Suffrage

Militant suffragists– Alice Paul formed the National Women’s party

in 1916 - took more aggressive action• Nineteenth Amendment (1920)

– 1920 - granted women’s right to vote in all elections at the local, state, and national level

The Progressive era was a time of increased activism and optimism for a new generation of

feminists

African Americans in the Progressive Era

• African Americans were, for the most part, ignored by the Progressive presidents and governors

• Progressives did nothing about segregation and lynching for 2 reasons:– They shared in the general prejudice of the

times– They considered other reforms to be more

important since they benefited everyone in American society, not just one group

Mob Justice

Between 1890 and 1920, there were 3,107 reported lynchings in the United States. In 4 out of 5 lynchings, the victim was an African American.

Two Approaches: Washington and Du

BoisWashington

• Stressed economics– Thought that blacks

should concentrate on learning industrial skills for better wages

Du Bois• Stressed civil rights

– Argued that political and social rights were a prerequisite for economic independence

Urban Migration

• Between 1910 and 1930, about one million blacks traveled north to seek jobs in the cities

• Motivating their decision to leave the South were:

– Deteriorating race relations– Destruction of their cotton

crops by the boll weevil– Job opportunities in northern

factories that opened up when white workers were drafted in World War I

Civil Rights Organizations

• In 1905, W.E.B. Du Bois and a group of black intellectuals started the Niagara Movement

• On Lincoln’s birthday in 1908, Du Bois and the Niagara Movement formed the NAACP

• National Urban League formed in 1911 to help those migrating from the South to northern cities

“I am, therefore, a Progressive because we have not kept up with our own changes of conditions, either in the economic field or in the political field. We have not kept up as well as other nations have. We have not adjusted our practices to

the facts of the case...”~Woodrow Wilson, campaign speech, 1912

Great Progressive Presidents

These men sought broad reforms and These men sought broad reforms and regulations on the national level.regulations on the national level.

Taft(1908-1912)

Wilson(1912-1920)

Roosevelt(1904-1908)

Theodore RooseveltTheodore Roosevelt

• Youngest President in U.S. History (42)

• Took office after McKinley’s assassination (Sept. 1901)

• Roosevelt’s Reforms:– “Square Deal”– Trust-busting– Railroad regulation– Consumer protection– Conservation

Roosevelt’s ReformsRoosevelt’s Reforms• “Square Deal”Square Deal”

– Roosevelt favored business and labor equally– Crisis involving strike of coal miners led to a granting of

a 10% wage increase and 9 hour day to the miners

•Trust-BustingTrust-Busting• He enforced

Sherman Antitrust Act

• Broke monopolies of Northern Securities Co. and Standard Oil

• “Bad Trust”- harmed public and stifled competition

• “Good Trust”- through efficiency and low prices dominated a market.

• Railroad Regulation– Passed 2 laws to strengthen

powers of Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC)

– Elkins Act (1903)- Gave ICC greater power to stop railroads from granting rebates to favored costumers

– Hepburn Act (1906)- ICC could fix “just and reasonable” rates for railroads.

• Pure Food and Drug Act (1906)- Forbade manufacturer, sale, and transportation of adulterated or mislabeled foods and drugs.– Meat Inspection Act (1906)-

Federal inspectors would visit meatpacking plants to ensure standards of sanitation were met.

Consumer ProtectionConsumer Protection

Map Key:  

B = Federal Bird Preserve F = National Forest

G = Federal Game Preserve M = National Monument

P = National Park R = Reclamation Project

yellow = Federal Bird Preservesgreen = National Forestsbrown = National Game Preservesred = National Monumentsorange = National Parksblue = Reclamation Projects.

Made use of the Forest Reserve Act (1891)

• Set aside 150 million acres of federal land as a national reserve that could not be sold to private interests.

– Passed Newlands Reclamations Act (1902)• Provided money from the sale of

public land for irrigation projects on western states.

– National Conservation Commission was established

• Established by Gifford Pinchot of Pennsylvania

Conservation

Preserve the Beauty

On March 1, 1872, Yellowstone became the first national park in the United States. By 1920 there were 15 national parks—including Alaska’s Denali (formerly Mount McKinley), opened in 1899, and Hawaii Volcanoes, opened in 1916. In 1916 the National Parks Service was created to ensure that the natural beauty of the United States would be preserved for future generations to enjoy.

* * Taft’s PresidencyTaft’s Presidency * *

• Had served in Roosevelt’s cabinet as secretary of war

• Nominated by the Republican party in 1908 and defeated Democrat William Jennings Bryan

Important Events:• More trust-busting and conservation• Split in the Republican Party

Trust-BustingTrust-Busting• Continued Roosevelt’s Progressive policies• Ordered the prosecution of almost twice the

number of antitrust cases as his predecessor

ConservationConservation•Established the Bureau of Mines•Added large tracts in the Appalachians to the national forest reserves•Set aside federal oil lands

More Progressive MeasuresMore Progressive Measures

• Mann-Elkins Act - 1910– Gave the Interstate Commerce

Commission the power to suspend new railroad rates and oversee telephone, telegraph, and cable companies

• Sixteenth Amendment - 1913– Authorized US government to collect

income tax

Split in the Republican PartyReasons:

• Payne-Aldrich Tariff– Taft angered Progressives in his party by signing the tariff

bill and making a public statement in its defense

• Pinchot-Ballinger Controversy– In 1910, when chief of Forest Service Pinchot criticized

secretary of interior Ballinger, Taft fired Pinchot - Conservatives applauded; Progressives protested

• House Speaker Joe Cannon– Progressives angered when Taft failed to support their effort

to reduce Cannon’s dictatorial powers over Congress

• Midterm Elections– Taft supported conservative candidates, Progressives turned

to Roosevelt

• Dedicated to the welfare of the Dedicated to the welfare of the working classworking class

• Favored public ownership of the Favored public ownership of the railroads, utilities, and major railroads, utilities, and major industries such as oil and steelindustries such as oil and steel

EffectsEffects• Some Socialist ideas were accepted:Some Socialist ideas were accepted:

– Public ownership of utilitiesPublic ownership of utilities– Eight-hour work day Eight-hour work day – Pensions for employeesPensions for employees

Eugene V. DebsEugene V. Debs

• One of the founders One of the founders of the Socialist partyof the Socialist party

• Ran in 5 elections Ran in 5 elections from 1900 to 1920from 1900 to 1920

• Jailed for the Jailed for the Pullman strikePullman strike

• Outspoken critic of Outspoken critic of business and a business and a champion of laborchampion of labor

The Election of 1912

• Candidates:– Taft (Republican)– Roosevelt

(Progressive/Bull Moose)

– Wilson (Democratic)– Debs (Socialist)

• Campaign:– Mainly a battle

between Roosevelt and Wilson

• Results:– Wilson - 435

electoral votes, 41% popular

– Roosevelt - 88 electoral, 27% popular

– Taft - 8 electoral, 23 % popular

– Debs - no electoral, 6% popular

Woodrow Wilson’s Woodrow Wilson’s Progressive ProgramProgressive Program

• Tariff reduction– Underwood Tariff (1913) lowered

tariffs for the first time in 50 years

• Banking reform– Proposed a national banking

system with 12 district banks supervised by a Federal Reserve Board

• Business regulation– Clayton Antitrust Act– Federal Trade Commission

• Other reforms– Federal Farm Loan Act– Child Labor Act

CausesGrowth of Industry

Growth of Cities

THE PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENT

Political

- Party primaries

- Split in Republican party - 1912

- Decline of machine politics

- Votes for women

Social

- Laws protecting workers

- Settlement houses and social work

-Birth control for women

- Beginning of civil rights movement for African Americans

Economic

- Conservation of land and water

- Regulation of business

- Lower tariffs

- Reformed banking system

- Federal income tax

Effects